Wish Anything
by psychocynic
Summary: A wealthy young star with a cynical outlook on life, Sessyoumaru, tries to escape his burden of taxes by holding a contest to make someone's wish come true. But ironically, the girl he fulfills the dream for is the one who teaches him how to dream.SessKag
1. Turn Off the Light

Wish Anything  
  
By Psychocynic  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasya and it's characters do not belong to me, though everything else and in between does.  
  
AN: This was partially inspired by Japanese singer and celebrity Gackt's "Your wish come true" contest/event. Hope you guys like it! This story was on my To-Do Agenda, and now that APOPP is somewhat stable enough, I decided to balance more than one story at once. Readers of Potato Passion (APOPP), sorry, but this is a more serious story; it's not as silly. Still, I hope you like it all the same. One thing you need to know though. I am a Kikyou fan insert cheer and there will be absolutely NO bashing. Respect that! Read and review, or you can email me! I joined fanfiction because writing stories seemed like an enjoyable hobby and a great way to get to know other writers!  
  
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AND AN IMPORTANT NOTE: I will be using the spelling of "Sessyoumaru" and "Inuyasya", and generally using 'sy' in place of any 'sh' in character names, except for in 'shi'. That's just the rules of the language. There are several ways to romanize Japanese, and the use of 'y' instead of 'h' in Japan IS used, though less. But the names are still pronounced the same, so no worries.  
  
I happen to like this spelling, and I don't want people trying to correct me. I know it can be spelled Sesshoumaru or Inuyasha, etc (in fact, I like this spelling very much too), or Sessho-maru and Inu-yasha, or any other version, but I will do as I please. I do things differently and with my own style, and I believe that a new spelling refreshes the characters' personalities and their connotations, and it gives my work a distinguishable characteristic.  
  
I am making this clear: Do not correct me, or I will ignore you. Anonymous reviews will be deleted, signed reviews blocked, and emails unreturned. And if any of you don't like names my way, go and read something that HAS your favorite spelling.  
  
But I will NOT appreciate you or any other people trying to do the same thing. Go find your own special quirk/trait, do not leech off of me. I had this idea first. And I intend to use this version of romanization for every work I write. You have been warned.  
  
Readers of APOPP and of SSS, which I wrote with SexyBod, those stories will sport the new name change on the next update.  
  
Oh, and something I hadn't mentioned up above; this story takes place through Sessyoumaru's viewpoint.  
  
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Chapter One  
  
Turn Off the Light  
  
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A shadow draped figure lay supine on his bed, said bed which was in turn laying supine on the clean and carpeted floor of a spacious hotel room. Said room was richly furnished, and it's decorator obviously had a taste for interior design, yet, anyone looking into it would not know any of these details, unless they had visited before, for the room was unlit and inkily dark. Well, except for the curtained windows adjacent to the bed, which was letting in a soft dim glow of the boisterous, neon-trimmed city below.  
  
Besides the room's plus features being blotted out by black, the room was not very well cared for.  
  
Stacks of annoying papers sat upon desks, in chairs, and on the floor like birds at dawn, staring and squawking and shrieking at you to get up and go out and eat something and litter the rest for them to freeload. An overstuffed wardrobe sat quietly in the corner, crammed with hangers filed rudely, and all aforementioned hangers dressed in something name-brand, custom made, stylish, fashionable, foreign-imported or the high-end such. All of which were only once-worn. Several professional looking, white buttoned up shirts hung loosely on the fancily embroidered and very squishy looking couch, strewn about like dead fish on a deck.  
  
Though the single occupant of the room, who was afore-described as lying boredly on the bed, did not care at all. No, because obviously, there were more prominent matters to deal with at the moment, something that he knew all along that was coming and could have avoided, but did not. And not to mention that the young man depised the very existence of the place to begin with, and cursed himself profusely for even deciding to visit and perform in this godforsaken desert.  
  
Sessyoumaru sighed, covered his face with his hands, and gritted his teeth in frustration. His fingers seized up and clawed through his snowy white locks in extreme annoyance as his jaw muscles tensed irritatedly. An overflowing river of profanities waterfalled out from his mouth. Then after a few moments, he relaxed a bit and half-opened his reflective, sun shaded eyes, calming down to address the problem here, and besides, it always felt better after a rant.  
  
It was THAT time of the year again. Well, at least it was nearing.  
  
Every rich person's nightmare.  
  
Taxes.  
  
Everything seemed to be against him!  
  
It was absolutely infuriating. He was only a visitor, a foreign celebrity that hadn't even stayed in this ramshackle sin city for more than a few months! He did not think that he was obliged a pay a year's worth to this country which he barely knew and swore no allegiance to. The people here believed themselves to be superior to the rest, and their officials gave him the excuse that he had earned more than enough during his stay here, and should be willing to pay as a sort of "Thank-You" for their hospitality.  
  
Hah, Sessyoumaru mentally snorted bitterly. They had all attended to him with a greedy face behind the mask of willing servitude.  
  
And the bill for a loaded guy such as he totalled to a few million.  
  
Oh no, they weren't gonna fool him. He had their number. There had to be some sort of law that only citizens and residents paid the bill, or at least people who lived in the country, or stayed for the full year. He qualified for none of the above, and he had been friggin' INVITED here in the first place!!!  
  
Plus that they were obviously using the excuse of tax dollars to demand millions from him in order to pay off the enormous electricity bill, a result of all those spangly neon lights and signs and marquee-thingys, and to keep up this damned fake-quality hotel, and to fund the stinkin' casino. And yes, the casino did stink. His hyper-sensitive sense of smell could NOT survive the putrid clouds of burning tobacco products and evaporating alcohol.  
  
His brother was smarter for once, choosing to stay back home to be with the girl he liked. Well, he could see his point now... because besides the fact that the girl was also both his and his brother's close friend, Inuyasya got to escape from the torture of this morally questionable city. The lucky bastard.  
  
Las Vegas... He was leaving from it now. He had spent so little time here, and already wanted to go back...  
  
To his homeland, Japan.  
  
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The next morning was clear and bright.  
  
Golden sunlight filtered through the ceiling-high glass windows all around, making the dust particles dance among the rays, and a spotless blue sky could be seen stretched over the horizon like a never-ending wallpaper. Wind blew in circular patterns, driving the unappealing smells of the open-for-24-hours casino outside to choke the passersby and circulating the crisp air-conditioning air.  
  
Sessyoumaru smirked as he strolled out from the lobby of the hotel, his assistant men in black suits following loyally and pushing carts of his belongings and some of their own as well. He was in high spirits today. The problem had been disposed of. This beautiful morning he'd consulted some of his connections, and with a few of his sidekicks, personally went to bring all those red tape documents and trash up to the head manager, and explained the logic he'd thought out last night, how he'd caught them trying to fraud-tax him, knew that he was not obligated to pay even a cent.  
  
Oh yeah...victory.  
  
Then he'd casually walked out, leaving behind the stuttering, jaw-dropped, eye-popped manager.  
  
"Such a wonderful morning..." Sessyoumaru smugly indulged in over-praising the weather, to the obvious expense of some others who did not quite think the morning was so nice.  
  
It was like a scene in a movie where the triumphant hero walks out on the revealed plans of the regretful villains, leaving the latter pleading for mercy and clinging to the former's sleeves, only to be ignored and made more pathetic in comparison.  
  
"Mr. Yaseishin! Mr Yaseishin!" a few lower managers wailed behind, hands clasped and repenting utterly for their sins.  
  
The head manager himself had recovered somewhat enough to clutch Sessyoumaru's ankle, getting dragged along on the red carpet and snagging his expensive suit, sobbing pitifully. "Pleeeease... Don't go! Wah Haaah... Ohhh, Mr. Yaseishin! No! Please! Ohhh!"  
  
For besides his supposed tax bill being a royally high financial asset to them, the striking young man's very presence at their hotel was staggeringly valuable celebrity advertisement. The hotel had become murderously popular very quickly after Yaseishin Sessyoumaru's arrival there, and profits made from the hotel's restaurants, bars, casinos, and strip clubs had soared skyward. So to them, Mr. Yaseishin was worth his weight in gold.  
  
Clerks had started to harass Sessyoumaru's servants with cash registers. Strip dancers frantically lunged for Sessyoumaru, trying to tackle him with lips and distract the wealthy young star from leaving, but they missed and landed in a half-naked heap. Cleaning maids were clogging up the road to the outside by kneeling on the ground in front of Sessyoumaru and smacking their foreheads to the ground, pleading tragically. Janitors were charging forward to attack with mops.  
  
Though it was all to no avail as Sessyoumaru, with his stunning looks and unbeatable charm, cut through them as effortlessly as an ambulance through a street of cars, and finished the touch by plucking the desperate head manager off and tossing him into the pile of strippers, who thought he was Mr. Yaseishin and immediately began grabbing him and smothering him eagerly with half-exposed cleavage.  
  
And Sessyoumaru walked on, grinning amusedly, still murmuring approval of the weather, off the red carpet and gracefully into a waiting private helicopter.  
  
The men in black suits heaved the suitcases in and quickly scrambled in after, then snapped the door shut. The sunglass-sporting pilot jammed down a red lever and then the fans started to circle rapidly into a blur before the copter started to slowly rise.  
  
And from inside the helicopter, faint sounds could be heard above the roar of the spinning blades, one particularily interesting...  
  
"Janitors! Get yer mops ready... FIRE!!!"  
  
A team of long wooden handles shot their way, wig-like mop hairs jiggling like squid tentacles, soaring in arcs before tangling and falling and bonking the heads of the gathered group of managers below.  
  
One of the lower managers squashed on the ground below, who had gotten a mop's brushy strings stuck on his head, looked like he was wearing a George Washington wig of white curls as he shook a fist at the departing aircraft.  
  
Far up in the stainless sky, inside a racing red helicopter, Yaseishin Sessyoumaru just kept laughing.  
  
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As the helicopter began the long journey across arid, pollution-clogged California and eventually the glittering Pacific expanse, several of the attendants in black suits who had not been down there at the hotel incident, enthusiastically pressed the black suited men who were at the scene for details.  
  
As the men in black in the back seats guffawed loudly in the background, Sessyoumaru himself settled comfortably in the plush-covered high-backed seat and leaned backwards, boredly watching small birds collide lightly with the spacious windows in fat balls of feathers.  
  
As his thoughts started to wander lazily, a familiar gruff voice made itself heard over the fog.  
  
"Yo Sessyoumaru, what was THAT all about?"  
  
The center of attention flicked his eyes towards the source of sound, the black-suited pilot sporting a tomato-red tie and hoop earrings who had turned in his seat to grin at him, pushing up his stylish sunglasses to unveil tawny yellow eyes.  
  
"Hn. Why are you here, Inuyasya?"  
  
"To see you," Inuyasya said simply.  
  
Sessyoumaru snorted and shook his head. He wasn't fooled.  
  
Inuyasya, steering the controls with one hand, laughed offhandedly, "Actually, Miroku told me of your tax troubles this morn, right after you'd called him to send someone to pick you up. So I volunteered to do the job. Considering that it was you, I had an inkling that I'd be able to witness something interesting."  
  
He winked at his brother and grinned knowingly. "And I'm sure glad I came..."  
  
Sessyoumaru cast Inuyasya an annoyed look and opened his mouth to retort, but the latter seemed to know what the former was going to say.  
  
"Wondering why I'm here and not staying home? Well, Kiki's here with me." Inuyasya gestured to his right as Sessyoumaru glanced to the side and saw the person occupying the co-pilot seat shift and turn towards him.  
  
With her right hand still gripped firmly on the control levers, and the left lifting a pair of designer sunglasses to reveal pretty blue eyes, Inuyasya's "girlfriend" (sort of) and Sessyoumaru's best friend since childhood, Kikyou, smiled happily up at Sessyoumaru. Her usually free-flowing locks of raven silk was tied up into a loose, casual knot today and a too-red cap that was obviously Inuyasya's was perched cutesily on her head.  
  
Kiki looked Sessyoumaru up and down, and then clapped her hand to her mouth. "My my..."  
  
Inuyasya's head snapped towards Sessyoumaru, and then, he too started muffling his amusement.  
  
Sessyoumaru frowned in apprehension. What...? He looked down at himself, and groaned in defeat. He had not managed to escape the hotel freaks completely unscathed. Their dreaded legacy marked him in various ways, such as...  
  
His once-fine black slacks, scuffed and fingerprinted at the ankles.  
  
Lengths of mop yarn tangled in his fair hair of heavy silk.  
  
And the worst...  
  
Red hot-lips spattered garishly on the edges of his suit. Ugh. Guess the strippers were able to get a few onto him.  
  
Inuyasya made a few inappropriate remarks and gestures, though all in good humor and fun.  
  
Kiki giggled as she leaned over and playfully kissed Sessyoumaru on the cheek, leaving yet another red lipstick tattoo.  
  
Sessyoumaru grumbled in mock indignation and Kiki laughed and lightly shoved him in pretend hurt.  
  
Inuyasya pointed to his own cheek and said, "Hey, where's mine?"  
  
The three old-time pals and successful superstars joked and teased very un-celebrity-ish throughout the afternoon, until Inuyasya almost cracked the copter into an airplane with his lack of attention, at which his brother promptly removed him and Kiki from the pilot seat and replaced them with solemn-faced men in black suits.  
  
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Evening approached. Clouds had appeared late in the afternoon as the aircraft soared over the silvery blue stretch of the Pacific Ocean. Ruby light stained the horizon, and the natural mirror below reflected it with twice the intensity. The radiant rays of the dying sun gilded the the tops of the clouds, setting them ablaze with fiery color and seeming to bring them to life. They were much less like clouds... they were more like spirits, as if flying majestically to that castle in the sky.  
  
That place of dreams.  
  
Everyone had a dream, did they not? Something they wished for... But not every wish could truly ever be fulfilled.  
  
Then what was the point of wanting something so badly and striving all your life, only to realize at the end... that you had chased a vision among the clouds, but like trying to catch the sun, was neverending? You could not do it. Once you realized this, you fell and lay dying among the disinegrating wisps of that cloud you had rode upon. What was the motivation to start something that could never be finished, never fulfilled the desire to fulfill your purpose in life that every being retained within? What was the point of entering a fantasy that made you suffer so?  
  
But then again, that answer was all too easily obtained.  
  
Weakness.  
  
It is the human condition.  
  
Such is our curse, to love and cherish and attempt things that could never be achieved anyway, depsite romanticism of never giving up and hope would succeed in the end. We make up such idealistic beliefs to comfort ourselves, yet you become wise at the moment you know you wasted your only chance at life. Because humans, strong as they are in terms of intellect and using that to their greatest advantage, of using physical power and the resources given them to attain control over every other creature on the face of the earth, is bitterly, miserably weak at heart. The mind... cannot rest without being assured. It is relatively easy to supply a body, you see... really not too hard to support. Food, shelter, physical comfort. A body could die, easily satisfied. But a mind needs nuturing, needs special care in ensuring a large ego, to be told and to know that they have done something useful in this world. Something momentous, important, or historical. They want to know that they are different, meant for something more than merely a candlelight's span of a life. To have left their mark on mankind for all to remember. Which is, in all reality, too hard to accomplish.  
  
One percent of hope is worse than having none at all, for the blow comes down harder with the rest of that 99 percent of knowing you could fail.  
  
Sessyoumaru's thoughts lingered for a moment in this unventured new land, before falling like the rest of unfinished daydreams, and eventually drifting towards the realm of the forgotten. A realization made, never lost, but set aside for another day. Distantly registering that the lyrics of the song of truth were slipping away like the sands of time, he gave up on trying to hold on to them. Then he raised his fingers to brush his bangs away from his view, feeling a wave of a strange and satisfying drowsiness wash over him, as he lifted his eyes to the the endless blue sky, as if searching among the clouds for the castle of dreams.  
  
"Hey you!! What's the stats?" Inuyasya barked loudly, unintentionally interrupting his elder brother's silent thoughts.  
  
Sessyoumaru's head turned quickly and painfully to the side. His head reeled with the suddenness but he couldn' t quite grasp anything yet... Huh?  
  
"We're still a few hours away!" a black-suited man in the pilot's seat called back. "And going to pass the Date Line soon!"  
  
"That's it?!" Inuyasya yelled incredulously. "If I were piloting, we woulda got there already..."  
  
Sessyoumaru's mind settled a bit as it tried to adjust from it's previous peace to Inuyasya's rude barging in, and the voice of his brother slowly faded into the background as Kiki turned to Sessyoumaru and spoke softly, "Isn't it ironic?"  
  
Sessyoumaru's mind blurred for a moment as he processed her words, still in that foggy world between abstract and reality.  
  
"I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? We're on a hypocritical journey of crossing the International Date Line..."  
  
Nodding his head slowly, still a little unsure of what she was getting at, the obscuring fog finally dissipated from his mind as the meaning gradually came to light.  
  
Kiki laughed gently at the bewildered face of her childhood friend before continuing, "Because you see, we're traveling west to reach the east. And as a result of the world's crazy number of confusing time zones, we're literally flying off towards tomorrow..."  
  
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AN: If you don't get what Kikyou said at the end, you need to think a bit beyond in order to understand. So don't exasperate me and tell me you're shallow by asking me what it means. Think, readers, THINK!!! Anyways. Hope you liked it, and please review.  
  
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	2. Shades of Sky and Sea

Wish Anything  
  
By Psychocynic  
  
Disclaimer: Inuyasya and it's characters do not belong to me, though everything else and in between does.  
  
AN: Hello! I'm back and hope that you all will like this chapter as well! Thanks for the positive feedback; I was quite pleasantly surprised, for I wasn't quite sure how my writing would be if potato-less. Anyways, as I said previously, this is a more serious story. Also a tribute to MoonliteCrescndo, who I admire very much, whose beautiful style of writing inspired me to pattern the realist mood of this story with more substance. I highly recommend her works; they are meaningful and deeply moving.  
  
And I'd love to answer each and every review individually, but I fear that it would distract the meaning of some stuff in the story insert sob. Instead, I hope that you will all accept a general reply. I'm happy that the "flying into tomorrow" part was well received, and how everyone took Kikyou's favorable position in the story without slights or bashing. I'm really pleased. Also with the acceptance of the new spelling and lack of Kagome so far; it's so nice to know you guys are open-minded! Thank you! Oh yes, one thing I forgot; for the purposes of this story, both Kikyou's and Kagome's eyes will be blue. I prefer the natural Japanese brown however, but blue is a bit of a theme here, if you cared to notice the title of this chapter. To some questions on Gackt: No, I don't know or listen to him. I only found out about the contest through a browsing of the idol/geinou news, and that contest is long over. The article is at w w w . j p o p . c o m / w e e k l y 2 5 0 9 2 0 0 3 . p h p (remove the spaces) and under the heading 'November 3rd' It'll take a while to find it, but it's an interesting background info to this story, for those who want to check it out.  
  
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Chapter Two  
  
Shades of Sky and Sea  
  
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The velvety darkness was suspended in mid-action as the helicopter speeded along the surface of the earth. The phenonemonal effects of time took it's toll, and the day was progressing in slow-mo for the people who dared go against nature. The helicopter followed the sun as they circled the earth together, as if searching in vain for a lost destination in a neverending cycle. The satelliting moon soon joined in this strange theater of the heavens, radiating all the more brighter with the additional light energy reflected by its sun brother.  
  
Inuyasya had long since returned to the piloting seat, though Kiki chose to remain by his brother, and the copter picked up speed and began to keep up with the tireless sun. Time seemed to backtrack a little, as what appeared to be afternoon for the airborne party quickly shifted to a semblance of noon. It was like one extremely long day, one that would never see the sun set. For, of course, if they flew along the solar wind for eternity, one would never see the other retreat into the horizon. The light would shine forever, until they reached Japan, (Nihon: Origin of the Sun,) where the rest of today would finally go along normally to the jet-lagged flyers, like an extremely long day that had stretched into the next without night, but for those who had spent the peaceful darkness there would experience a new, another tomorrow.  
  
The occupants of the lipstick-red copter continued hurtling through the sky, finally nearing the floating blue-green archipelago, as a certain travel-weary passenger allowed his tired eyes to drift shut and his figure to slump back gracefully, grumbling incoherently. Sessyoumaru had reason to complain again, now that they were leaving the comforts of the pacifying ocean and setting foot on dry land soon. Something like that always had to happen, to rouse his irritated and restless mind. So he always had something to be bitter about. The current topic was once again...  
  
"You're in deep thought," stated Kiki offhandedly, glancing towards Sessyoumaru at her side.  
  
"Hn. I'm debating on just what kind of chemicals I might need to remove this lipstick stain," Sessyoumaru said dryly, eyes still closed but finger pointing at said lipstick tattoo on face.  
  
"I'm devastated to know that you think of my lipstick that way. It's entirely washable, you know," came the amused reply. Kiki twisted a lever on the side of her seat and leaned back, pushing the back of the snuggly recliner to an extreme obtuse angle, then lounged comfortably in it and yawned, "It's nice to have a private copter, hn?"  
  
She continued on, lazily. "Such a long day, one would feel utterly appreciative of these comfy plush seats, flying in this cool atmospheric weather with no distinguished snooze time... Sooo, Sessyou, tell me, it's the taxes bothering you again?"  
  
So she knew.  
  
His eyes sobered as he muttered sarcastically, "And oh, just what shall I do? Woe is me. You have uncovered my well-guarded worries."  
  
Kiki tilted her head back, playful mood vanishing as a contemplative look washed over her face, before speaking slowly and intelligently, "There are many ways to deduct that formidable sum on your tax bill to nothing, Sessyou."  
  
Sessyoumaru sighed, and turned his head to look out the window, and Kiki took that as a sign that he was waiting for her to continue on.  
  
"One custom is to donate to charity, which your brother and I both do, because either way a lot of money is spent, however, I feel that I would rather give it to those who need it, than to the government as tax."  
  
Ah yes, Sessyoumaru recalled disinterestedly, charity... but that would cost a lot of his money as well.  
  
But hey, Yaseishin Sessyoumaru just wasn't the type to extend any hand of help to just anyone.  
  
You had to gain his respect first.  
  
Kiki continued, tapping her elegant fingers thoughtfully against her chin, "But, for someone like you, you can try something else."  
  
She knew that he didn't want to save on the tax money only to give it to someone else, knowing that he would consider it completely useless and bothersome, but sensibly did not voice this fact aloud.  
  
"You can assume responsibility for others, to put it simply; adopt a pet or child. Or take up volunteer-related activities, something that can benefit others." She looked directly at him with unashamed straightforwardness, a trait that Sessyoumaru had always admired in her.  
  
Besides his mother, no other woman could look into his eyes so boldly and unaffectedly, an equal.  
  
A strange stirring sensation occurred in the pit of his stomach, which had absolutely nothing to do with the grueling speed Inuyasya was flying the copter at. His mind blurred for a second, and he felt an odd numbing dizziness engulf him like an ocean wave.  
  
Sessyoumaru leaned his head back until his eyes focused unseeingly before him, iridescent irises averted and sharpening with a sort of hard glitter.  
  
Kikyou gazed silently at him, feeling more than seeing the distance in his eyes, and how the pair of scarlet stripes on his cheeks darkened with deep philosophy.  
  
She never questioned his choices.  
  
He knew what he was doing. He was practiced in the power of strategy, was a master of chess. No plan would go into action without serious challenging and the utmost militaristic precision. Every possible detail would be weaved delicately into the careful and intricate art of thought. Quite unusual (and ironic), yes, for he would have been much better off as a shogun in the Sengoku Jidai centuries ago, than wasting his energy trying to wangle his way out of paying some seven digit-numbers of required tax bills. Yet, she knew that Sessyoumaru would still persevere, whether in matters of war or wealth.  
  
'Such a total perfectionist... tsk tsk,' she thought fondly.  
  
She wasn't quite sure what went on in that crazy head of his, even though she probably knew more than any other, having been by his side all this time. The workings of his mind were almost inconceivable to the rest of the human race, so complex and bottomless it was.  
  
A thousand fathoms crossed behind those beautiful eyes of dandelion wine.  
  
But to put it simply, Kikyou could feel that Sessyoumaru, with his talent and insight, just wouldn't fail. Except, well (she smiled), he _was_ a little tactless.  
  
She hummed a little bit, waiting for Sessyoumaru to speak.  
  
Meanwhile, Sessyoumaru had stood up, and stationed himself by the window. He breathed in deeply, and turned to face the outside, eyes sweeping carelessly over the oceanic shades of sky and sea.  
  
A completely unrelated and random thought flitted through his mind, and strangely against his will, chose to voice it aloud, surprising even himself out of his dark and contemplative mood with his mild tone, though deep with immeasurable meaning.  
  
"They say the ocean is blue for reflecting the hues of the heavens. It is also said that the sky is blue for absorbing the cobalt colors below. Yet, if this is true, where then, does the blue begin?"  
  
Sessyoumaru didn't even bother turning around to catch Kikyou's gaze to see the allusion with her own sapphire depths. He had often wondered, if her eyes were only but a pair of mysterious mirrors as well.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
"So. You've decided then?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Just the one?"  
  
"No. I have another device in mind. I want your opinion on it."  
  
The helicopter was high over the Japanese sky by now, and Inuyasya up front was plaguing his passengers with repeated obscenities about not having found an ideal landing location yet.  
  
Sessyoumaru and Kiki had settled down for quite some time discussing over various ways of worming out of the infamous taxes. He was much more relaxed talking about it to her than anyone else. No one could replace Kikyou.  
  
She had discreetly hinted at adopting a child, but that hadn't exactly been his idea of tax reductions. He was far more comfortable with the suggestion made by the eavesdropping Inuyasya, who had declared that they all should go marching up to the top office and beat the scumbags with cave-man clubs. That had got them a good laugh. But Sessyoumaru decided that he would humor her by going to see the little brats at least. He didn't know why he'd agreed, but just to give it a go. He, after all, actually went and tried something out before deciding that he didn't like it.  
  
Sessyoumaru was an open-minded person, and...  
  
It wasn't justified to reject something if you didn't even give it a chance in the first place.  
  
Now, however, Kiki was asking if that was the only means of tax reduction he was going to use. Well, as he wasn't too keen on adopting a child, he supposed another way would have to do.  
  
"Mmmm... Well, people are such suckers for the 'goodwill' kinda junk." Inuyasya mumbled offhandedly.  
  
"Yes..." Kiki trailed off, lost in deep thought and not really paying attention to what her 'boyfriend' was saying, "Goodwill kinda junk..."  
  
"You know..." Inuyasya continued, "If you just make yourself out to be a sort of Santa Claus figure..."  
  
"WHAT?!! I ain't gonna be no Santa Claus!!" Sessyoumaru yelled incredulously.  
  
Then Kiki suddenly snapped her fingers deftly, and an enlightening sort of look brightened her eyes.  
  
"Yes! Santa Claus! That's it!"  
  
Inuyasya and Sessyoumaru both looked at her as if she were crazy.  
  
"Do you know what Santa Claus does?"  
  
"ER... _Kiki._ I do think that we all are aware of the fat sand man coming every Christmas to give kids what they want?" Sessyoumaru asked, eyebrows raised.  
  
"Uh huh," Inuyasya said in agreement, "You think satisfying the wishes of other bums can cut down the taxes? WAIT..." Then he paused for a moment, as he jabbed a shaking finger at Kiki's excited face, "_Oh-oh-oh_!! Yes! I get it! That'll be perfect... especially for someone like him." He emphasized the last word ominously, a smirk spreading across his lips.  
  
Sessyoumaru frowned in slight confusion. Just WHY were his brother and friend looking at him that way?!  
  
Kiki clapped her hands together eagerly, eyes shining a bit too bright for his tastes.  
  
Inuyasya grinned and nudged Kiki with his elbow, while shooting his brother a knowing glance.  
  
Then... he caught on.  
  
That crazy twosome was gonna make him move to the North Pole, so badly did he want to escape the sinister plans these scheming sadists had in store for him. He, Sessyoumaru, famed for associating himself with only the cult of society and harboring indifference towards the monotonous masses, fulfill the fantasy of some ordinary, commonplace, boring, dull, plain, gag-inducing, fancying fan?!!!  
  
No-fucking-way!!!  
  
However, his thoughts were obviously not being taken into account by the duo before him, who were now animatedly engaging in conversation.  
  
"Yes, that would be just _perfect_. He's _always_ attracted all the ladies," Inuyasya said in a squeakily high and sickeningly sweet voice, as if he had swallowed a jug of syrup. "They'd be sooo shocked by Sesshy's sudden stunning decision to chum with them; they'd all simply swarm to sign up. And the tax buddies would be sooo touched by his charitable contribution and chop down our tax bills too, for simply coming up with the idea..."  
  
Kiki playfully slapped Inuyasya on the arm, and reproved lightly, "Come on. We'll have to work this out right, and certain steps will have to be taken to ensure this operation is both successful and plausible. If done wrong, Sessyou will end up wasting his time and patience, AND suffer at the hands of quite a few fanatic fangirls. If I do recall, your brother really is some chick magnet."  
  
Inuyasya was wallowing in sinful bliss, to the obvious expense of a not-so-enthusiastic Sessyoumaru.  
  
Kiki grinned at the strange exchange between the boys, and then spoke up in a strained tone, trying to sound serious but failing ultimately, "The procedure will have to be handled with a lot of registration and red-tape bullshit, and there'll probably be a lot of redundant confirmations and transferring 'necessary' actions. The government tries its best to prevent the escape of potential funds after all," she added in darkly, then continuing with "It's going to be complicated, but we have to get a permit or some other official license thing, and THEN carry out our plans," ignoring both Inuyasya's elevated expression and Sessyoumaru's distasteful snort.  
  
Then they suddenly felt a lurching weightless feeling before realizing that Inuyasya's lack of attention in the cockpit was causing the copter to spiral downwards, going to hit a gigantic advertisement balloon off the beaches of what looked like Hokkaido.  
  
If they managed to hit that fat orange ball, the force of the exploding scraps of rubber skin and pressured helium would shatter all the windows and render their smooth singing voices squeaky for the remainder of the day. And that would be bad, to put it as an understatement.  
  
Inuyasya promptly yanked on the controller, sending them into an upside down ascent southwards to the main island, obscenities firing out of his jaws like a machine gun rounding out 600 rounds of ammunition. Sessyoumaru joined him in cursing as he grabbed onto the arms of the plush chair he had been pleasantly dozing off in before, while Kiki, who was still tied to her seat with the safety belt, moved quickly to get out of her precarious position, ripping the sturdy strap in a hasty effort to escape the torture of steady blood flow to the head. Her fingers worked nimbly to remove the remains of the restraint, and then worked her way over to the controls, frantically shoving the passionate pilot out of the way and crazily twisting the wheel in any direction other than downward. Kiki's instincts proved to be superior to the red-tie-sporting Inuyasya, as her fast acting had managed to right themselves and set the copter on course, though to the cost of Sessyoumaru plummeting back down onto the carpeted floor alongside the incapacitated pilot in a tangle of limbs. The steep incline of the vehicle also meant the men in black suits previously snoring in the back were sliding their way to the rest of the little party in the front, squashing the latter and jolting the rows of high-backed seats. The previous pilot, awakened by the profound pressure, wriggled wormlike through the debris of assistants, denied any damages done and demanded his pilot-ship back. Sessyoumaru and the black-suited bums promptly tackled him.  
  
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AN: Please excuse the continued lack of Kagome! She'll appear pretty soon, but since Sessyoumaru is the main character, things will always show him first, and there needs to be background info too, ne? I hope the crazy end to the chapter doesn't affect your overall feedback, and that you'll comment on the not-crazy things too. Thank you for reading and please review!  
  
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